The cost of the storms which battered Powys throughout February are expected to become clear in the next month.

Powys Council's cabinet meeting met on Tuesday, in part to discuss the underspend of £6,000 against the authority's total annual budget of £255 million.

That could have improved to £650,000 if further cuts found in February and March materialised.

County Times:

Jane Thomas

However, the cabinet also heard that the cost of the storms, and the subsequent flooding, could also have an impact.

Head of finance Jane Thomas said: “Although this position demonstrates we would be in a surplus position by year end, we have the impacts of the storms to consider.

“Although there is support from Welsh Government, we will have to meet some of those costs ourselves.

“We will do a re-calculation on what to expect from that and how it will impact on the position.”

Responding to council leader Rosemarie Harris's question about when the cost of the floods would begin to emerge, Ms Thomas said those costs would start “hitting the ledger now”.

“I don’t think we’ll have complete clarity for another month,” she added.

Finance portfolio holder Cllr Aled Davies (Conservative – Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant & Llansilin) stressed that it would take “some time” to repair all the damage.

Corporate Director for Economy and Environment, Nigel Brinn, said there had been several landslides affecting road and that dealing with these repairs were taking workers away from other work.

He added that work could be affected by the weather conditions and that permanent structural repair work might need regulatory consents.

The report was noted and approved by cabinet.